Worcester kicks off $13M Main Street project

Walter Bird Jr. Editor @walterbirdjr/@worcestermag

Thursday

Aug 30, 2018 at 3:56 PMAug 30, 2018 at 4:36 PM

The northern end of Main Street in Worcester as many know it will be dramatically different in another year or so. It has already started to change, courtesy of a roughly $13-million road project that is underway now and will continue through 2019.

At its conclusion, the stretch of Main Street from Chandler to Lincoln streets will bear little to no resemblance to its current incarnation. The roadway will be narrowed, streets redesigned, sidewalks completely redone, new street lights and traffic signals added, along with other major changes planners and city officials say is geared toward improving overall safety and boosting economic development.

It will also give District 2 Councilor and Economic Development Committee Chair Candy Mero-Carlson a reason to buy some new shoes.

"I spent a lot of time at Sweet Jane's," Mero-Carlson said of the consignment shop at 120 Main St. "I look forward to buying new shoes and walking to a show at Hanover [Theatre]."

Mero-Carlson and a number of local, state and federal officials, along with business and economic leaders and community representatives, kicked off the project - which actually started recently with work being done near the old Worcester Courthouse at Lincoln Square - Thursday afternoon inside Hanover Theatre at 2 Southbridge St., blocks away from Sweet Jane's and smack in the middle of a theater district seen by many as a catalyst to Worcester's downtown development.

The street improvement project is being done jointly between the city, state and federal government, with the city taking care of work at the northern-most end of Main Street as well as near Chandler Street. The state is doing the bulk of the work on the street.

Of the total cost, the city is spending roughly $1-$1.5 million, according to Jake Sanders, who deals with intergovernmental and municipal affairs for the city. The state Department of Transportation is shouldering the bulk of the cost, $9.3 million, which includes an earlier $4.5-million federal earmark secured by U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern. The MassWorks Infrastructure Program is kicking in about $2.3 million.

"This city really is on the move," McGovern said. "You hear it everywhere you go."

Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said the project is important because people who drive through a Main Street "take note."

"This project's really building on the momentum in the city, but is also setting it up for future investment," she said.

The work, which is expected to finish next year, will cause sidewalk closures and other impediments, according to Department of Public Works Commissioner Paul Moosey and Director of Engineering Mark Elbag.